Storage battery.



BIO-829,648. PATBNTED AUG. 28,1906.

1 G. A. FORD.

STORAGE BATTERY. APPLICATION FILED DEO.22,1905.

. UNITED -srnrns PATENT GEORGE A. FORD,- or oLEvELANnoHIo, nssienon To HARRIET s. roan, or CLEVELAND, OHIO. v

' To all whom it may concern:

. shown in Fig. 3 and a tray fitted therein, the

STORAGE BATTERY.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1906.

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. FORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Storage Bat series, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention is an improvement in the type of storage batteries which forms the subject of my pending application, Serial No. 284,619, filed October 27, 1905, in which battery there is employed to contain and separate the battery-plates a plurality of horizontally-disposed trays or dishes made" of infrangible absorbent material-such as pulpboard, aper, wood, and .the like. trays wlien immersed'in a battery solution are wet through, and thereby their strength and stiffness are greatly reduced. The obect of this invention is to rovide in a storage I attery of the type speci ed practical means for reinforcing and strengthening said trays without materially reducing the efiiciency of the battery.

The invention consists of a storage battery made up of a plurality of superposed batterynnits, each consisting of a tray made of infrangible absorbent material having an upturned marginal flange and a bottom which inclines upward from its middle to the said marginal flange, combined with a stiff frame having a bottom in the form of a grid 11 on which the bottom of the tray is adapte to rest and which inclines upward from the center toward the sides to substantially correspond-with the bottom of said tray, which frame has also an upturned marginal flange adapted to embrace the marginal flange of the tray resting upon said grid-formed bottom and an electrode in said tray.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is aside elevaupper battery unit is in central vertical section. 2 is a plan view of one of the trays. ig. 3 is a plan View of one form of the reinforcing-frame. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of a tray. Fig. 5 is a plan View of a modified form of the reinforcing-frame. Fig. 6 is a sectional view through a frame like that section being in the Iplane indicated by the diagonal line 6 6 of ig. 2. Fig. 7 is a sec- Such tional view of the reinforcing l'rame shown in Fig. 3 with a tray fitted therein, the section being in the plane indicated by line 7 v7 of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a sectional view in. the plane indicated'by line 8 8 of Fig. 2, showing a frame shown in Fig. 3 with a tray fitted therein.

Referring to the parts by letters, A represents a tray-which may be made of paper, pulp-board, wood, or any other analogous substance which is absorbent and infrangible. The marginal edges of this tray turn upward, although, preferably, not quite into vertical position. inclines upward from a central point to the edges, this inclination being to facilitate the escape to the edges of the trays of any gases generated in said tray or the tray beneath it.

B represents a rei1iforcingframe having an upturned marginal flange b, adapted to embrace and bear against the outer surface of the marginal flange of the tray. The bottom of this reinforcing-frame shouldbe as open as possible to enable it to properly support the bottom of the tray A, and preferably it is made of a plurality of bars 1), meeting at a o ."hmon central point beneath the lowest poi t of the tray and extending therefrom at an inclination corresponding with the inclination of the bottom of the tray A to the manv other bars 6 extending also from the center of the frame to the middle of the long-sides of the frame. The frame shown in Fig. 5 h as its bottom made up of four inclined bars, which extend from the center to the middle It will be understood that.

of the four sides. the bottom of the reinforcing-frame is not required to be of theformshown in either Figs. 3 or 5. The bottom should be as open as it can be and yet be adapted to support the bottom of the tray, and that is all that is In addition to these bars, preferably there are two tion of the battery whereof the jar and the The bottom of the tray required. The particuiar frames shown in Figs. 3' and 5 are preferred because theyoffer no obstructions to the free flow toward the marginal edge of the frame of bubbles of gas which rise from the tray next beneath it.. This reinforcing-frame may be made of any suitable material which the battery solution will not re idly attack. It may be made of gutta-perclia or wood. It has beenfound, however, that if it be made of pulprboard thoroughly impregnated with asphaltum-it will serve the stated purpose, and when so made of said? ,material' it is much cheaper than if made of'guttac-percha or wood.

represents the electrode which. is placed inthe tray, and D the battery-jar. The reinforci'ngl-frameof one unit will rest upon and be supported by the el-ectrode 01- the unit next'below it.. It is. desirable that the units shall be separated enough to allow the battery' solution to freely -ci'rculate between then-1,; and for this reason it is preferred. to employ separators E, which may be independent small pieces or bosses formed on the underside of the bars Having described my invention, I claim- 1.v A storage battery comprising a number of superposed battery units each consisting of a tray made-ofinfi'angible absorbent materi'allhaving upturned.marginal' edges and a bottom which inclines from a central point upward to said marginal edges, a reinforcing,- frame having a bottomwhich is. inclined to correspond with the inclination of the bottom of thetray, and is made of narrow bars, and 4 an upturned narginal flange adapted to embrace and engage with the fi'ange of the tray, and an electrode in said tray.

2'. In a storage battery, the combination of' a tray made of infrangible absorbent material having upturned marginal edges and a bottom which inclines downward from said marginal ed es'toward the center of the tray, with a re' rcing-frame having a bottom made of narrow bars which are inclined to correspond with the bottom of the tray, and having an upturnedmarginalfiange ada ted to embrace and engage the flange 0 one of said trays when its bottom-is resting upon the bottom of' the frame.

3. In a storage battery, the combination of a dish-shaped tray made of absorbent inf'rangbl'e material having an upturned margina flange, withva reinforcing-framehavin a bottom made up of'a plurality of conneete bars extending from about the middle of said bottom outward and upward a n inclination corresponding tothe i'ncl inationof :the bottom of' the tray, and an upturned marginal flange united with the outer ends-of said bars and adapted to embrace the marginal flange of said tray when it is resting upon said bottom bars. p

In testimony whereof I hereunto. afli'x my signature in the presence of two witnesses. GEORGE FORD.

Witnesses:

E. L. TimnsToN, B. GlILoHnIs'r. 

